


Lover

by JaxStarGazer



Category: Midnight Poppy Land (Webcomic)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-11
Updated: 2020-09-11
Packaged: 2021-03-06 18:02:13
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,652
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26413078
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JaxStarGazer/pseuds/JaxStarGazer
Summary: Poppy watches Tora from across the room, waiting to see if he will notice her.
Relationships: Tora/Poppy Wilkes
Comments: 28
Kudos: 83





	Lover

**Author's Note:**

> OK, I've been listening to Taylor Swifts - Lover, on repeat too much. Something popped into my mind and I haven't been able to shake it loose, and this is the result. It's my first MPL fan fiction which is terrifying because this fandom is insanely talented and I worship the stories that come from it. But life's too short to not just go for it, so this is the result. Definitely listen to the song while reading if you can. Also not beta read so I'm sorry!
> 
> -
> 
> Midnight Poppy Land belongs to the incredible LilyDusk and the song belongs to Taylor Swift.

Lover

'We could leave the Christmas lights up 'til January  
This is our place, we make the rules  
And there's a dazzling haze, a mysterious way about you dear  
Have I known you 20 seconds or 20 years?'

I knew when he entered the room without having to look up from my glass of wine sitting on a napkin on the bar in front of me. It wasn't just the tell-tale tingle of awareness to trickle down my spine, as though his rough fingers were tiptoeing down my bare skin. An awareness that still to this day, two years since I met him, that tells me when he's close, even if his eyes aren't trained on me. No, it was also the excitement in the air that accompanied that awareness this time. The way the atmosphere shifted from a hum to a not so subtle shift of energy that he causes when he steps in a room. And it's not just because he's the infamous Tiger of Ares Street.

He holds people's attention whether he wants it on him or not.

Lifting my glass to my lips I take a small sip before gently placing it back down on the napkin, in the exact same indentation as before. My skin breaks out in goose-bumps that has nothing to do with the cool breeze slithering in through the open doors to the outdoor terrace, bathing the party in a false sense of cool security. I could feel the whispers rather than hear them. The sheer interest he had garnered in just a few short seconds of stepping into the hungry prey of the people at this party. Not his people and not mine either, thankfully. My lips twitching as I picked up on a word here or there about the tiger in the room.

I've been sitting at the bar alone since I arrived, slipping through the crowd easily, no one taking an interest in me.

Finally, curiosity got the better of me. Channeling my inner Julia Roberts, circa Pretty Woman, with my legs still crossed at the knee, I slowly turned my bar stool so I could gaze out over the room. The opulence of the place screamed who the host was and I bit back a smile as I watched his blonde head weaving through the crowd with a flair and confidence I admire, but don't envy. I skittered my gaze over the many people dressed to impress, a drink in most people's hands. I watched the majority of the fake smiles and vacant eyes as people conversed in groups throughout the room.

Until my gaze rested on him.

I felt my breath hitch as I gasped slightly, pulled into the orbit of his presence like most people are. I felt my heart race as I took in the aura of sheer power and attraction that oozed from him in his tailored black suit. His crisp white shirt open at the collar enough to tease the hard muscle and peek of tattoo I intimately know covering his chest and beyond. His hair pulled back in a neater version of the half up messy way he normally favors. My hands twitched to run my fingers through it, knowing it would be as soft as it looks, how it feels to have it brushing across my chest and shoulder as he looms over me. I couldn't tear my eyes away from watching him standing there with people looking at him with a mixture of curiosity, fear and lust, some openly, others subtly. I couldn't help but let a smile breakthrough.

Tora has always given off an air of something - be it hostility, danger or intimidation, he positively radiates something that draws people to him whether they want to be or not. And I had a backseat hidden view of getting to watch this play out not for the first time, with fascination.

To the people who don't know him, he looks enticing. Someone they want to get close to because of his reputation, to get a taste of that invincible power. In and out of the bedroom. But for those of us who do know him, know of the gentleness that belies the strength straining at his suit. Of the man who would move mountains to make me happy, protect me with his life; who holds me in his hands like I might break and shatter before him. Running his calloused hands over my skin with the barest touch, causing me to tremble with need as he looks at me like I'm an angel ready to fly from his hands should he dare to apply too much pressure. The man who made me feel so precious and loved that I had no choice but to let down my walls and allow him in.

The man who works every day to undo the damage done by another.

My smile threatened to slip at the thought of that. But just as quickly I watched Tora glare at an outstretched hand in such a way that my smile solidified itself again.

I know he's aware of the attention he gathers as he steps through a room. I know it irritates him to be surrounded by selfish power-hungry bigots. That he does it for Quincey, and he alone. The only other exception if he was to be ordered to by, he who shall not be named. And if he was a drinker, I know he would have been sitting in the corner of the bar by now nursing a stiff drink whilst taking in the people around him with distaste and distrust. Neither not unwarranted. Sweeping his golden eyes over the room of people kissing up to Quincey, trying to gain favor on their way to his father. But Tora doesn't drink. He doesn't choose that to make this party any more bearable for him.

But that's where I come in.

'And I'm highly suspicious that everyone who sees you wants you  
I've loved you three summers now, honey, but I want 'em all.'

Our relationship is a secret, save for Quincey and Gyu, no one, not even my Granny, knows I have fallen in love with a tiger. At first I hated it, not being able to be close to him like a normal couple, introduce him to my family, stroll through the city hand in hand and beam with pride because we're together and I love him and I want the whole world to see him the way I do. I understood it then, though reluctantly, and I understand it now. Over time the pain has lessened and I've found other ways to embrace our situation instead. Like right now, sitting at the bar in a slinky red dress that I knew would drive Tora mad once he caught sight of it properly. A place I can openly watch him walk around the room as though I'm just another admirer, dressed up in the hopes of getting his attention.

Poor little Poppylan Wilkes, trying so hard to snare the tiger of Ares Street. How ambitious.

I felt my pulse race the closer he got to where I was sitting. I knew he'd located me just as quickly as I had known he was in the room. The game has always been the same, even if it took Tora a little while to give in and allow me to play. As Quincey's editor and friend, I attend the swanky parties, I dress up and hover on the fringes of the crowd in the hopes of snagging his 'attention'. Being able to openly gawk without fear of someone seeing more than they should. And Tora? Well he gets to pretend to be as indifferent with me as he is with everyone else. Barely sparing me a glance as he strolls past. Not even a hint of a smile aimed my way. His expression blank and uninterested, after-all, I'm no one special, right? Just Quincey's editor, a little love sick for his bodyguard, but no one of real interest or threat to weaken the tiger.

Our secret.

By the time he was strolling past me, maybe a tiny bit slower than normal, my heart was racing with excitement, my whole body positively thriving with the game we play. It takes the passion to new heights at the end of the night and beyond. Pulls us closer together, our love so strong it feels like no one could tear us apart. And for a short time, everything is perfect when we come back together, the world stops for just us. I tried to resist tugging my lower lip between my teeth as on cue his blazing golden eyes roamed me in one lightening quick go. Zeroing in on the plunging neckline of my red dress before meeting my eyes once and looking away, walking out towards the terrace with a scowl for a cigarette.

To anyone watching it would have been so quick it wouldn't have seemed as if anything happened between us. But those split seconds felt like minutes and I saw more than anyone could possibly decipher in that one meeting of our eyes. I watched his broad back disappear out of view through the open doors and slowly turned back around on my stool to face my drink again. Picking it up delicately I drank more than a sip to calm my racing heart. I wouldn't go out there to try and make conversation with him. I wouldn't try to flirt or grab his attention any more than I already had. We wouldn't risk meeting in a dark room somewhere. What passed between us was enough, to us and any eyes who may be watching too closely.

And for now, that is enough.

After-all, he's my lover.

'My heart's been borrowed and yours has been blue  
All's well that ends well to end up with you.'


End file.
